In Vitro Models for Animal Replacement

Session Overview

In 2016, nearly 4 million animals were used in research in the UK. Not only is animal research considered unethical and inhumane but it is also ineffective. Currently, about 90% of drugs that pass animal tests fail in clinical trials, mainly due to unpredicted side-effects or because they are ineffective in humans. There is a huge incentive to develop alternatives to animal testing. In vitro models have the potential to provide an ethical solution with improved scientific accuracy which is preferable from both an animal welfare and scientific perspective.

Session Chair: Gerry Kenna

Gerry's role is to innovate and forge a route to improved safety of medicines, through human-relevant methods that are accepted and used by scientists in academia and industry, and by regulatory agencies. He provides expert advice on the design, generation and interpretation of drug safety studies to biotechs, SMEs, large and small pharma and pre-competitive consortia. This aids effective discovery and development of safer drugs, and development of new safety testing strategies. It utilizes the extensive preclinical and clinical expertise in drug safety sciences (especially drug induced liver injury) he acquired whilst working in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries and in academia. He has actively supported drug discovery projects in CNS, infection, oncology and metabolic diseases therapy areas.

What papers are we looking for?

We are looking for a wide variety of papers on this topic to provide an academic and industry perspective.